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Robert Wadlow
Robert Pershing Wadlow (22 February 1918 – 15 July 1940) is the tallest person in history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. He was known as The Alton Giant and The Giant of Illinois. He was born and raised in Alton, Illinois. Wadlow reached an immense 8 ft. 11.1 in. in height and was 31 st. 5 lb. in weight. His great height and his continued growth in adulthood were due to a condition called hyperplasia on his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone. He showed no indication of an end to his growth even at the time of his death. Biography Early Life Robert Wadlow was born to Harold Franklin Wadlow and Addie Johnson in Alton, Illinois, on 22 February 1918, and was the eldest of five children. He was taller than his father at the age of 8, and in elementary school they had to make a special desk for him due to his size. By the time he had graduated from Alton High School in 1936, he was 8 ft. 4 in.. After graduating he enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law. Later Life and Death Wadlow's size began to take its toll on him. He required leg braces to walk and had little feeling in his legs and feet. Despite these difficulties, he never used a wheelchair. He became a celebrity after his 1936 U.S. tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus. In 1938, he did a promotional tour with the International Shoe Company (since 1966 called INTERCO). They provided him his shoes free of charge. Examples still exist in several locations throughout the US, including Snyder's Shoe Store of Ludington and Manistee, Michigan, and the Alton Museum of History and Art. He continued participating in tours and public appearances, though only in his normal street clothes. He possessed great physical strength until the last year of his life, when his strength and his health in general began to deteriorate rapidly. Robert was a member of the Order of DeMolay, the Masonic-sponsored organisation for young men. He was also a Freemason. In 1939, he petitioned Franklin Lodge #25 in Alton, Illinois, and by late November of that year, was raised to the degree of Master Mason under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. and A.M.. His Freemason ring was the largest ever made. The year before his death, he surpassed John Rogan as the tallest person ever. On 27 June 1940 (18 days before his death), he was measured at 8 ft. 11.1 in. by doctors C. M. Charles and Cyril MacBryde of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. On 4 July 1940, during a professional appearance at the Manistee National Forest Festival, a faulty brace irritated his ankle, causing a blister and subsequent infection. Doctors treated him with a blood transfusion and emergency surgery, but his condition worsened due to an autoimmune disorder, and on 15 July 1940, 11 days after contracting the infection, he passed away in his sleep at the young age of 22. He was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Upper Alton, Madison County, Illinois. Legacy A life-size statue of Wadlow stands on College Avenue in Alton, opposite the Alton Museum of History and Art. It was erected in 1986, in honour of the well-known native. Another one stands in the Guinness Museum in Niagara Falls, and others are at several of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museums. A group of six life-size models of him, made by artist James Butler, exist, and are shipped and displayed in replica caskets. Another life-size statue of Wadlow may be viewed at Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills, Michigan. In front of it is a small, quarter-operated "TV-box", which plays a short documentary movie about his extraordinarily short life. Robert Wadlow is still affectionately known as the Gentle Giant to this day. Height Chart Category:Americans over 8 foot Category:People over 8 foot Category:Men over 8 foot Category:Tallest Person Ever titleholders Category:People whose height has been verified